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en-usCopyright 2015 AOL Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only.Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2014/10/04/fanatec-has-a-solution-for-using-its-pricey-xbox-360-racing-whee/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.engadget.com/2014/10/04/fanatec-has-a-solution-for-using-its-pricey-xbox-360-racing-whee/http://www.engadget.com/2014/10/04/fanatec-has-a-solution-for-using-its-pricey-xbox-360-racing-whee/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget#commentsOne of the biggest hassles of upgrading to a new gaming console is that by and large almost all of the accessories and peripherals you bought for the previous one are incompatible. High-end racing-wheel outfit Fanatec isn't going to leave Xbox gamers high and dry, though. The outfit's recently announced that it'll soon release a "Fanatec wheel base" that allows you to plug in its existing lines of pricey Xbox 360 racing wheels, shifters and pedal sets into it and use them with Microsoft's newest gaming system. The outfit's also apparently closed a licensing deal with Redmond to bring new racing gear to the Xbox One as well. Considering the newly released Forza Horizon 2 and the upcoming The Crew and Project Cars, this should all be good news to virtual gearheads. Here's to hoping a company steps up and does something similar for PlayStation 4 owners soon, too.

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accessoriesfanatecfanatecwheelhubForzagaminghdhdpostcrossperipheralsRacingGamexboxXboxOneSat, 04 Oct 2014 10:35:00 -040021|20972409http://www.joystiq.com/2014/09/11/forza-horizon-2-rewards-series-loyalty-with-sweet-rides/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Joystiq&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.joystiq.com/2014/09/11/forza-horizon-2-rewards-series-loyalty-with-sweet-rides/http://www.joystiq.com/2014/09/11/forza-horizon-2-rewards-series-loyalty-with-sweet-rides/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Joystiq#comments
Experienced Forza players will hit the ground running in Forza Horizon 2 this month, as Turn 10 Studios will carry on with the series' loyalty program introduced last year. Announced just over a year ago, Forza Rewards hands the keys to some sweet digital vehicles to players that raced in past entries in the series, and the upcoming game will offer up to five cars to returning drivers.

Forza Rewards gives players points based on their in-game actions, starting with Forza 2 on. Earning points for owning a large number of cars in Forza 5, for example, will add to players' point totals and increase their reward level tier. Upon starting Forza Horizon 2 for the first time, tier two and above loyalty program participants will receive one car right away, depending on their reward tier. The five in-game cars include the 2011 BMW 1 Series M Coupe (Tier 2), the 2013 Viper GTS (Tier 3), the 2015 Lamborghini Huracan LP 610-4 (Tier 4), the 2014 Local Motors Rally Fighter (Tier 5) and the 2013 McLaren P1 (Tier 6).

Forza Horizon 2 will launch on September 30 for Xbox One and Xbox 360. Microsoft also issued a launch trailer for the game today, found after the break.

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forzaforza-horizon-2Forza-Motorsportforza-rewardsloyalty-programmicrosoftPlayground-Gamesturn-10turn-10-studiosxboxxbox-oneThu, 11 Sep 2014 13:00:00 -040011|20960910http://www.joystiq.com/2014/07/05/hot-wheels-forza-5-dlc-brings-cars-lacks-bendy-orange-roads/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Joystiq&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.joystiq.com/2014/07/05/hot-wheels-forza-5-dlc-brings-cars-lacks-bendy-orange-roads/http://www.joystiq.com/2014/07/05/hot-wheels-forza-5-dlc-brings-cars-lacks-bendy-orange-roads/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Joystiq#comments
Sometimes it's hard to find an excuse to play with the toys and properties you enjoyed as a kid. However, Forza 5is about to reunite you with your long-lost Hot Wheels collection. Well, sort of. A new car pack, brought to youby Hot Wheels, is now available to download for $9.99.

While this Forza 5 DLC doesn't feature 1:64 scale die-cast vehicles or sweet volcano jumps, it does feature Lamborghini's 50th anniversary car - the 2013 Lamborghini Veneno - along with nine other sweet rides. Seven of the 10 roadsters are new to the Forza franchise, and you can check out the full list after the break:

Available from Xbox Live at a price of $10 (or, at no additional charge for those who've purchased the Forza 5 Season Pass), the pack includes ten different vehicles. Highlights include a 2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed, a 1970 Dodge Coronet Super Bee, and the 2013 Mazda MX-5 Cup, a car that is far more entertaining than its modest price would suggest. The crown jewel of this DLC pack is the above-pictured 2014 Corvette Stingray wrapped in exclusive Bondurant racing livery. Like most American muscle cars, the Stingray may not cling to corners, but it does go very, very fast, and you'll look supremely cool when sliding off the side of the track.

Named for the famous Bondurant racing school in Arizona, this DLC's debut also offers Turn 10 a great excuse to plug that 60-acre facility. According to Turn 10, the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving will soon introduce a course titled the "Forza Motorsport Grand Prix Road Racing Class" for those gamers who want to transfer their virtual skills to real-world asphalt.

Now that Forza Motorsport 5 is dishing out realistic driving, it's time for the Xbox-exclusive series to swing back to open-world arcade racing: meet Forza Horizon 2. While the announcement at IGN doesn't show much (unless you really like box shots), it promises a few big upgrades for both Xbox 360 and Xbox One gamers, including a weather system that hasn't been in previous Forza titles. You'll also get an adaptation of Forza 5's Drivatar technology that should deliver slightly more authentic (read: mistake-prone) AI opponents based on your friends. Naturally, Xbox One players will get a visual upgrade at the same time. You'll have to wait until the fall to give Horizon 2 a spin, but we suspect that Microsoft and developer Playground Games will have more to say about it at E3 next week.

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drivatare32014forzaforzahorizonforzahorizon2gamingplaygroundgamesracingturn10videogamesxbox360xboxoneMon, 02 Jun 2014 10:31:00 -040021|20904587http://www.joystiq.com/2014/06/02/forza-horizon-2-arrives-this-fall-for-xbox-one-xbox-360/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Joystiq&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.joystiq.com/2014/06/02/forza-horizon-2-arrives-this-fall-for-xbox-one-xbox-360/http://www.joystiq.com/2014/06/02/forza-horizon-2-arrives-this-fall-for-xbox-one-xbox-360/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Joystiq#comments
Microsoft has announced Forza Horizon 2 for Xbox One and Xbox 360, IGN reported. The racing game follows the 2012 spin-off Forza Horizon, and is primarily being developed by the same studio, Playground Games. Forza Horizon 2 is expected to launch this fall.

The next-gen racer will seemingly be set in southern Europe and bases its events around a music festival. It's the second game in the series to launch on Xbox One, the first being Turn 10's Forza 5, which launched with the console in November.

Update: To clarify, the Xbox One version of Forza Horizon 2 is being developed by Playground Games, whereas the Xbox 360 version is in development by Sumo Digital, creator of Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed. Playground is collaborating with Turn 10 for the next-gen game, sharing some tech and staff to develop the game.

Created to celebrate the real-world unveiling of Honda's 2014 Civic Si, the Honda Legends Car Pack includes three cars: the aforementioned Civic, the 1984 Honda Civic CRX Mugen and the 1994 Honda Prelude Si. "All three of these cars represent the excitement and pure driving spirit that embodies Honda cars," says the Pack's description on the official Forza 5website.

Acquiring the Honda Legends Car Pack is as easy as finding and downloading the DLC on the Xbox One marketplace. As is standard for Forza 5 DLC, this will introduce the three cars into the game's dealership, where they can be purchased using your race winnings or by exchanging real-world cash for the requisite number of tokens. Still, it's free to get the pack inside the dealership.

All that turmoil deciding whose next-gen colors you were going to wear might have come down to one thing: which one has the launch titles, or exclusives you want. Imagine, then, that the very thing that won you over, came back to bite you. For early adopting Xbox One fans in the UK, that's exactly what's happening. Dead Rising 3, Forza Motorsport 5 and Ryse are all listed on Xbox Live for a fiver more than they cost at launch (£49.99, up from £44.99). At time of writing, it's not all titles that will see you short of a deep sea diver, but Microsoft has confirmed to VG247 that pricing for "select digital content" has changed since launch, gently reminding us that price and promotions can vary by region. Evidently so.

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DeadRisingForzahdpostcrossmicrosoftonepriceryseukxboxxboxoneWed, 11 Dec 2013 06:03:00 -050021|20786302http://www.joystiq.com/2013/11/27/director-defends-forza-5s-slender-content/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Joystiq&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.joystiq.com/2013/11/27/director-defends-forza-5s-slender-content/http://www.joystiq.com/2013/11/27/director-defends-forza-5s-slender-content/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Joystiq#comments
While the past few Forza Motorsport entries have offered players new packs of additional cars long after each game's debut, Forza 5 takes things to a whole new level. Our largely positive review described the game as enjoyable but anemic, but Forza creative director Dan Greenawalt stands by the team's design choices.

In a Shacknews interview, Greenawalt was asked why so much content appears to be missing from Forza 5 while developer Turn 10 Studios continues to promote upcoming DLC additions that should flesh out the racing simulation. "Forza Motorsport 5 is actually the largest racing game ever delivered at the launch of a console, by a long shot," Greenawalt states. "In fact, it would be huge even by second holiday standards. As mentioned above, it is bigger than Forza 2, which was delivered a year and half after the launch of the Xbox 360. It also has more car diversity than any previous Forza Motorsport; by including open wheel race cars and track toys like the KTM X-Bow and the Ariel Atom on top of the diversity that took us years to build up across multiple iterations on the Xbox 360.

"Moreover, we've defined an uncompromised quality bar for new generation racing games in both car and track detail and immersion - all while, delivering unprecedented size," Greenawalt says.

"Regarding DLC, we have found that 10 cars a month is the fastest we could create "just in time" content. Just like in Forza Motorsport 4, we are planning to add as many as 10 cars a month to Forza Motorsport 5. It takes more than six months to build every car. Delivering cars in monthly packs allows us to keep the game new and fresh for those that are interested."

When asked why Forza 5 is missing the iconic Nürburgring track, Greenawalt explains that the new graphics engine in Forza 5 necessitates that all tracks be rebuilt from scratch. While other famed racetracks like Spa were able to make an appearance in Forza 5, there just wasn't time to reproduce the lengthy, complex Nürburgring for the new engine, so instead of porting low-resolution content from Forza 4, the team opted to leave the track absent. "Expect more news on tracks in Forza Motorsport 5 in the near future," Greenawalt added.

Shacknews
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forzaforza-motorsportforza-motorsport-5microsoftturn-10turn-10-studiosxbox-oneWed, 27 Nov 2013 18:45:00 -050011|20777643http://www.joystiq.com/2013/11/27/every-car-in-forza-5-is-half-off-this-weekend-credit-payout-inc/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Joystiq&ncid=rss_semi
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Turn 10 Studios is discounting every car in Forza Motorsport 5 by 50 percent from Friday, November 29 through Sunday, December 1 following community feedback for the game. The developer is also offering VIP members the 2013 Lotus E21 grand prix car for free and the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO for those that already purchased the E21.

Turn 10 is also changing the game's economy by "dramatically increasing the credit payout available to all Forza players" in the month of December through its Forza Rewards loyalty program. The developer notes that the higher a player's tier level is before Sunday, the better the rewards will be, so those that spend extra time in Forza 5 in the coming days will see a nicer payout next month.

Additionally, the developer admitted that the 1,250 in-game credits packed with the limited edition version of the game isn't enough to buy any car in the game as advertised. To make up for it, limited edition owners will soon be able to download an on-disc car of their choice for free. Owners of the LaFerrari launch car pack or the Forza 5 car pass will also receive the 2013 LaFerrari for free.

With only two weeks until the Xbox One hits the shelves, Microsoft's marketing blitz continues with a 12-minute video demonstration of its next-gen console in action. Xbox executives Yusuf Mehdi and Marc Whitten highlight some of Kinect's new features, showing how users can switch to their personalized dashboard using just their voice, or use its 1080p camera to engage in a live Skype video call. We're also treated to some real-world examples of the Xbox One's snappy multitasking features, which we first saw in the "Meet Xbox One" video late last month, reinforcing the speed at which the system can switch between the dashboard and a paused game (in this case Forza Motorsport 5). These features, of course, are just a few of the several fascinating abilities we got to witness this week -- you can digest it all right here.

As the studio points out, Forza 4 saw 12 downloadable, monthly car packs. It's unknown how many Forza 5 will receive, but we do know that each pack will include 10 cars, all of which will feature full Forzavista support, allowing players to pop the hood or check the interior in detail.

Though pricing information for these DLC packs is currently unknown, Turn 10 has also revealed a "Car Pass" promotion that will allow players to purchase the first six planned additions all at once. There's currently no information on how much this Pass might cost, but that should be appearing soon, alongside more information on "a very special inclusion in the first add-on pack for Forza Motorsport 5."

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car-passdlcforzaforza-motorsport-5microsoftturn-10xbox-oneTue, 29 Oct 2013 14:30:00 -040011|20756469http://www.joystiq.com/2013/09/25/forza-5-developer-unveils-18-new-cars/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Joystiq&ncid=rss_semi
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To kick off its weekly Forza Motorsport 5 Showroom promotional effort, Turn 10 Studios has unveiled a swath of new rides. Some of these have been seen before, but today marks their official announcement as part of the game.

The focus of this week's Showroom is on three sports cars that should be familiar to fans of virtual racing: the 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X GSR, the 2009 Zonda Cinque Roadster and the 2002 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II. Turn 10 offers in-game screenshots and detailed descriptions of each of these rides at its official Forza 5 blog, so if you've somehow never driven these arguably commonplace cars in the virtual world, that would be a good place to hone your gearhead knowledge.

The remaining 14 cars in today's reveal don't get the full description treatment, but are instead simply listed by name.

Those that opt for the $60 Day One Edition of the game will receive a three-car pack, which includes the 2010 Audi TT RS Coupe, 2013 Ford Focus ST and 2011 Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera cars. Limited Edition owners also receive those three cars when Forza 5 launches this November on Xbox One.

Microsoft already talked up how the cloud component of its Xbox One console will work, but now we're hearing of the benefits from the dev's side. The verdict is certainly positive so far, with Dan Greenawalt, creative director for Forza 5, extolling its virtues, citing it as a "tremendous opportunity" in a recent interview with OXM. His team has been using it to take care of a lot of the AI elements in the game -- such as its Drivatar system -- which he claims would usually take up about 10 - 20 percent of the console's processing power. By letting the cloud deal with it, however, it can spill out into much greater complexity, with Greenawalt claiming a boost equivalent to "600 percent" of the actual Xbox's brains. This, in turn, freeing up the 10 - 20 percent it would have used for something else. Bold statement, of course, but with the early signals looking good, this is one feature we're glad still made the cut.

It's a black set-top box. It's a media streamer. It's dependent on an internet connection. It's a living room hub. It wants to be your everything. But really, the Xbox One (or any new, next-gen console for that matter) is nothing without launch games. To get a real sense of that lean-in experience on the Xbox One, we spent some time in Microsoft's (very green) E3 booth playing the various available demos. So join us then, as we deliver some brief impressions of what to expect when you boot up that Day One edition console later this year.

Phil Spencer just hopped on stage at Microsoft's Xbox Reveal event and has just unveiled Forza Motorsport 5 for the Xbox One. While there's no firm launch date for the console just yet, the next-gen racing title will arrive on launch day when Redmond's next gaming box arrives later this year. Microsoft hasn't published the eye candy-filled trailer it just played up on stage, but you can be sure we'll update here when it does.

Update: Our fine friends over at Joystiq have gotten ahold of the trailer, which we've slotted in past the break.

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durangoForzaForza5ForzaMotorsport5microsoftMicrosoftStudiosvideoxboxonexboxrevealTue, 21 May 2013 13:40:00 -040021|20578313http://www.joystiq.com/2013/05/20/microsoft-trademarks-forzavista/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Joystiq&ncid=rss_semi
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Microsoft has filed a new trademark for the word "Forzavista." Using our detective-like intuition, we've determined it probably has something to do with the Forza Motorsport series, possibly something that will be revealed during tomorrow's "Xbox Reveal" event. Further speculation points to a renaming or expansion of the series' "Autovista" feature, which allows players to get up close and personal with many of the game's cars (including Halo 4's Warthog).

Okay, so it's not so much speculation as it is exactly what's described by the trademark itself. Specifically, the trademark refers to "A feature of interactive video game software which allows players to obtain statistical information of internal and external features of a vehicle and to virtually navigate and operate those vehicles."

Be sure to tune into Joystiq on Tuesday, May 21, for more live coverage of Microsoft's event than you can shake a stick shift at.

SiliconeraUSPTO
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forzaforza-motorsportforzavistamicrosofttrademarkxboxMon, 20 May 2013 10:00:00 -040011|20575794http://www.joystiq.com/2012/12/03/groupon-4gb-xbox-360-bundle-with-forza-4-alan-wake-for-200/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Joystiq&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.joystiq.com/2012/12/03/groupon-4gb-xbox-360-bundle-with-forza-4-alan-wake-for-200/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/12/03/groupon-4gb-xbox-360-bundle-with-forza-4-alan-wake-for-200/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Joystiq#commentsGroupon has posted the rare gaming-centric deal. For the next two days, you can purchase a 4GB Xbox 360 S console with included copies of Forza Motorsport 4 and Alan Wake for $200. If you feel it's a good enough deal to buy in bulk, you can purchase up to three through this promotion.

This exact bundle was introduced during the holidays last year, albeit with a 250GB console. Also of note is the included copy of Alan Wake, which is not a physical disc but rather a download code. Consider it the tutorial puzzle preamble to Wake's nightly meandering through the Pacific Northwest.

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Alan-Wakeforzaforza-motorsport-4grouponmicrosoftmicrosoft-studiosturn-10xboxMon, 03 Dec 2012 19:30:00 -050011|20393154http://www.joystiq.com/2012/09/25/forza-horizon-gets-a-season-pass-49-99-for-access-to-all-dlc/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Joystiq&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.joystiq.com/2012/09/25/forza-horizon-gets-a-season-pass-49-99-for-access-to-all-dlc/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/09/25/forza-horizon-gets-a-season-pass-49-99-for-access-to-all-dlc/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Joystiq#commentsMicrosoft has announced a Season Pass DLC plan for the upcoming Forza Horizon, the latest entry in the racing series that is set in a virtual representation of the state of Colorado. The Season Pass will cost $50 USD (or 4,000 Microsoft Points), and grant access to the game's Expansion Pack set to arrive in December.

Season Pass holders will also nab each of the six car packs as they're released over the next year, as well as five exclusive Season Pass vehicles and a batch of launch day rides. Turn 10 will reveal all of these cars gradually on its Twitter feed. The Season Pass (which represents a 17 percent saving on all of this content) will be available for purchase on October 23, right when the game turns the key for launch.

In addition, we've got tracklists for each of the game's three radio stations, all churning out tunes during the in-game "Horizon Festival." Have a look at the songs, after the break.

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car-packscontentdlcexpansion-packforzaforza-horizonmicrosoftplayground-gamesseason-passturn-10-studiosxboxxbox-liveTue, 25 Sep 2012 21:00:00 -040011|20333315http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/10/fame-is-always-just-over-the-forza-horizon/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Joystiq&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/10/fame-is-always-just-over-the-forza-horizon/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/10/fame-is-always-just-over-the-forza-horizon/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Joystiq#commentsRalph Fulton of Playground Games was very insistent that Forza Horizon is not, in fact, an arcade racing game. It may take place in an open-world version of Colorado, may be free from traditional Forza career modes and may feature a youth-focused licensed soundtrack (read: dubstep), but the actual driving is built on Forza's physics engine.

The problem with arcade-style racing games, according to Fulton, is that the appeal of racing different vehicles is lost due to the fact that all cars have to handle roughly the same in order to preserve an "arcade" feel. By using Forza's existing physics engine, Playground Games hopes to circumnavigate this problem and preserve the series' pedigree for for automotive accuracy.

That being said, the only car featured in the demonstration I saw was the 2013 SRT Viper, and as it was a hands-off demonstration, I was unable to compare its handling with my experience driving similar cars in previous Forza games. What I can say, is that the Viper did more than its fair share of drifting around Colorado's mountain roads, and that it racked up wicked popularity points doing so. See, in Forza Horizon, you're not just driving around for the hell of it. You're driving to get famous.

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e3-2012forzaforza-horizonkinectmicrosoftmicrosoft-studiosplayground-gamesturn-10turn-10-studiosxboxSun, 10 Jun 2012 18:00:00 -040011|20253175http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/06/forza-horizon-to-feature-voice-activated-kinect-gps/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Joystiq&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/06/forza-horizon-to-feature-voice-activated-kinect-gps/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/06/forza-horizon-to-feature-voice-activated-kinect-gps/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Joystiq#commentsForza Horizon's take on Kinect integration will be a bit more utilitarian than the dynamic head tracking seen in Forza 4, allowing players to use voice commands to activate the game's GPS system and find their way through Horizon's open-world version of Colorado.

"We received two recurring feedback points while we were looking at this game," Playground Games' design director Ralph Fulton told us during E3. "The first one is really simple, people said 'This world so big, I found it really easy to get lost.' The second is kind of related to that, people said 'Sometimes I forget where I'm going, or what I want to do next.'"

Forza Horizon's solution to this problem is a voice-activated GPS system that the player can use to find specific locations, such as the game's eponymous Horizon Festival ("GPS, Festival, Autoshow"), as well as ask more generic questions ("Where's my next race? Where's my nearest event?"). Once the Kinect registers the player's request, Forza's familiar line of green arrows extends from the underbelly of the vehicle, guiding the player to their destination.

Most Xbox 360 bundles focus on shiny colors over extra features. We'll take them any day, but we prefer functional pack-ins like that in the just-unveiled 250GB Racing Bundle. On top of Microsoft's higher-end console, you'll find a copy of Forza Motorsport 4 to build your racing chops and a Wireless Speed Wheel to give a slightly more faithful driving experience. The effect won't match that of a Motion Simulation TL1, but at $299, you'll have money left over to buy a real car when the Xbox bundle arrives in mid-June -- and only a slight premium over the usual 250GB console's $249 price tag.

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bundleconsoleforzaforza motorsportforza motorsport 4ForzaMotorsportForzaMotorsport4game consoleGameConsolegamingjon-fingasMicrosoftmicrosoft xboxmicrosoft xbox 360MicrosoftXboxMicrosoftXbox360racing bundleRacingBundlewireless speed wheelWirelessSpeedWheelxboxxbox 360xbox 360 250gbXbox360Xbox360250gbTue, 29 May 2012 13:33:00 -040021|20246973http://www.joystiq.com/2012/05/17/heres-the-first-forza-horizon-screenshot/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Joystiq&ncid=rss_semi
http://www.joystiq.com/2012/05/17/heres-the-first-forza-horizon-screenshot/http://www.joystiq.com/2012/05/17/heres-the-first-forza-horizon-screenshot/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Joystiq#commentsBack when Forza Horizon was first officially announced by Microsoft and Playground Games back in March, all we had to gaze upon was a montage of desperately pretty cars and people, living the kind of life you'd expect someone with that kind of a car to live.

Now, though, we've got our first real look at the game in the form of the screenshot above, which features the 2013 SRT Dodge Viper, some rocks, an extremely flat American highway and the same vignette framing we've come to expect from Forza in-game screenshots. Granted, this is but a single image, but from where we're sitting it sure does look a hell of a lot like a Forza game, which is reassuring considering that this is Playground Games' first spin behind the franchise's wheel.

It's amazing to realize that about two years ago Fanatec's first Xbox 360 racing wheel, the Forza 3 Porsche 911 Turbo Wheel, hit the scene. Although it turned out to be a mixed bag, Fanatec pleasantly surprised us with its Porsche GT2 and Clubsport Pedals in January of this year -- despite a roaring fan and shaky shifter mounts. Now, we're saying hello to a new trio of racing sim-related goods intended for Forza Motorsport 4 on Xbox 360: the $249.95 Forza Motorsport CSR Wheel, $59.95 shifter set, and $149.95 CSR Elite Pedals.

If you'll recall, it was back in March that we checked some of this kit out, and now with Forza 4 here, we hooked this mashup of gear up with our Playseat Evolution for a massive amount of virtual spins. So, did this combination help speed past the checkerboard with a respectable feel? Shift past the break find out in our full review.